Chapter 94
Chapter 94:
Unwilling to lose focus, she told Austin she would be staying at the office and buried herself in work for several days straight.
Three mornings in a row, Brinley woke at her desk.
Shafts of crooked light pierced the blinds, casting fractured shadows over the half-finished racetrack layout. She had drifted into slumber in her chair, pen still in hand from the night before. Her weary fingers skimmed the touchpad, but the section linking the track to the commercial hub remained stubbornly blank.
That unresolved problem had pressed on her chest like a stone for three relentless days.
“Brinley, the track material samples you asked for just arrived,” Corbin announced as he entered, lugging several hefty folders. His eyes widened at the sight of her slumped at the desk. “You… stayed here all night again p>
Brinley pressed her aching temples, her voice rough as she admitted, “Yeah. The connection design has me stuck p>
She gestured toward the glaring red question mark flashing on the monitor. “The track’s drainage system keeps clashing with the commercial district’s underground network. I’ve revised it eight times already, and the balance still won’t hold p>
Corbin set the folders on the desk and offered her a cup of warm milk. “You’ve been running on empty for three days. Why not go home and rest a little? Inspiration might come easier after some sleep p>
Addi𝘤ti𝘷𝖾 ѕ𝘁𝗈𝗿𝗂𝘦ѕ oո
Brinley shook her head and lifted her coffee instead, letting the bitterness sharpen her foggy mind. “No need. The final draft is due in just a few days. If I cave now, all of our work will collapse with me p>
She snatched up a marker and began sketching alternate pipeline routes across the blueprint.
The faint rasp of the tip against paper cut through the stillness of the office. Yet midway through, her hand slowed again, the marker hovering uselessly over the page.
No matter how she rerouted it, the sewage lines from the commercial district still cut straight across the racetrack’s foundation. Left unresolved, the overlap would one day cause the ground to sink—a fatal flaw for any professional circuit.
“Damn it!” With a sharp tug, she raked her fingers through her hair and flung the marker onto the table, watching it spin before clattering to the floor.
For days, she had been living at the office, too pressed for time to go home. Austin’s messages had piled up unanswered, her replies delayed.
She knew she’d been giving him too little of her time, but the looming deadline left her no choice.
In that moment, the door eased open with a soft creak.
Assuming it was Corbin, she didn’t bother to glance up. “Just leave the samples on the desk. I’ll look them over later p>
Yet silence followed.
Frowning, she looked up—and froze.
Austin filled the doorway in a sleek black suit, a manila envelope tucked under his arm. His gaze lingered on the bloodshot haze in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted, scrambling to straighten the chaos of her desk, though she didn’t even know where to start.